Texas shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa arrested for five killings

Fugitive found in the city of Cut And Shoot after a tip led police to a house where he hid in a wardrobe

Francisco Oropeza is suspected of fatally shooting five of neighbours in Cleveland, Texas AP
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A man suspected of killing five people in Cleveland, Texas, on Friday has been caught after four-day manhunt, police said.

Francisco Oropesa 38, “was hiding in a wardrobe underneath some laundry” in a house in the city of Cut And Shoot, about 65km north of Houston, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said on Tuesday.

Mr Capers said officials acted on a tip from an unidentified person who would be eligible for an $80,000 reward offered for information leading to an arrest.

“He is behind bars,” Mr Capers said, adding that Mr Oropesa would be held on $5 million bail for five murder charges.

The Mexican is accused of killing his neighbours after one of them asked him to stop firing off rounds in his garden late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.

He has been deported four times since 2009, but neighbours said he had lived on their street for years.

The victims were between the ages of nine and 31, while several others were in critical condition from gunshot wounds.

The shooting took place in the rural town of Cleveland, about 75km north-east of Houston, around midnight on April 28.

The search for Mr Oropeza had grown to involve more than 200 police officers from several jurisdictions.

Updated: May 03, 2023, 5:26 AM